The Prime Minister has capitalised on Labour's blunder

Today, the Prime Minister writes for us on the subject of Britain’s relationship with the EU – and it is obvious that he understands how important the issue is to so many voters. As David Cameron succinctly puts it, “People are worried that Britain is being sucked into a United States of Europe; that may be what some others want, but it is not for us”. Therefore, he pledges to renegotiate the terms of our relationship with the EU and then to put our continued membership to a national referendum.

The approach is sensible. And it contrasts mightily with the vague promise that Ed Miliband made last week to offer a referendum in the “unlikely” event that more powers should be transferred to Europe under any future Labour government. Mr Miliband displayed a basic misunderstanding of how voters see the matter: they want a referendum on Britain’s relationship with the EU, and effectively ruling one out will be seen by many as undemocratic and arrogant. Mr Cameron has every right to capitalise on the Labour leader’s blunder, to remind us as loudly and as often as possible that the Conservatives are now the only major party committed to letting the people have a say on how they are governed. Yes, Ukip offers a referendum, too. But Ukip is highly unlikely to win any MPs at the next election, let alone enter government. Hence, the only real option left to those who wish to be heard on Europe is to vote Tory in 2015.

Mr Cameron has, politically, done the right thing. But now comes the hard part: putting together the fine detail. In his Sunday Telegraph article, the Prime Minister mentions some of the things that he wants to renegotiate with the EU. Critics will say that his proposals lack specifics. He writes, for example, that he wants to see “powers flowing away from Brussels, not always to it”.

What does this mean in practice? He would also like “businesses [to be] liberated from red tape”. Which regulations in particular will he be seeking to scrap? And Mr Cameron promises “free movement to take up work, not free benefits” – something it would be very difficult to achieve in practice. What kind of reforms to Britain’s welfare system will this entail and what happens when (not if) the EU resists them? Already a socialist European Commissioner is planning to launch legal action over Britain’s attempts to restrict benefits to migrants.

Of course, the Prime Minister understandably insists that it would be foolish to enter negotiations having already laid all his cards on the table. This is quite correct. The renegotiation process is going to be long and complicated, and there will be fierce opposition from EU bureaucrats. But if the Prime Minister sticks to his guns and follows through on his commitment to try to reform the terms of our EU membership before giving us all a say on his efforts, then he will earn the loyalty of his party – and probably benefit at the ballot box.